Chapter 101
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Subject: [No Subject]
I read your message.
It sounds like something that would be difficult to discuss over the phone.
I'll make time sometime soon….
It would be better to talk again then.
And next time you send a message, try to cut down on the unnecessary details. I thought it was some strange spam message when I first started reading it─.
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While I was reading the message from the boss,
Troy Mason's listless voice came through the terminal.
[…Hello?]
“Ah, I'm listening. Since the boss wasn't answering, I sent her a message a little while ago. I guess she finally had time to read it.”
It had been worth composing the message until my palms sweated in this cold weather.
But cut down on the unnecessary details?
No way.
I decided to add another thousand characters or more next time.
Troy Mason drew out the end of his words as if continuing to think.
[Ah, if she didn't answer……. She was probably at the scene. Things have been pretty tense between Veltech and Ryan lately, haven't they? They're practically pouring in enough firepower for an all-out war. So the atmosphere in the Inner Districts isn't exactly normal, either. I've been so busy lately because of that I could die.]
“Oh-ho….”
[I have no idea what these crazy bastards are fighting over so viciously. It seems even the higher-ups are wondering how they're supposed to send a mediation proposal.]
“……”
I was about to enthusiastically agree with him, but quietly shut my mouth.
I knew why the two companies had gone to war.
‘Hmm. So the reason the boss and Troy are busy is me.’
I sincerely apologized in my heart.
Only in my heart, of course.
Fighting.
[A message…. Then what about my request?]
“The one where you asked me to tell her that she took good care of you?”
[Do you think I would ask you for money, or ask you for some other favor?]
The boss really must be terrifying.
For him to mention it so many times.
But this time, I could answer with a truly confident attitude.
“Of course I included it. I said that a friend named Troy was a really decent person. I even said I was grateful that she had introduced me to such a good friend.”
[…Really?]
But Troy seemed more concerned about another part of what I had said.
[A friend…. Hmm, a friend? Well, from a social perspective, I suppose this is enough to call someone a friend. Hm-hm….]
It was almost creepy.
What the hell was wrong with this guy all of a sudden….
If he had been standing next to me, I would've hit him without even realizing it.
“And I also casually added that you seemed to have a deep interest in the boss. No need to thank me separately.”
[…?? Wait a second.]
Troy's voice trembled slightly.
[What did you say you added?]
“Huh?”
[??]
“????”
As question marks flew in from every direction, I tilted my head and continued.
“You do have a deep interest in her, don't you?”
[No, that's not what I'm talking about……. ]
Soon, a lion's roar, as if drawn up from his very dantian, erupted.
[What kind of lunatic says that out loud?!]
To be honest, I had expected this reaction to some degree.
I calmly nodded.
“Hey, sometimes you need to step on the accelerator without hesitation. What is love? A wave. It surges in, then ebbs, ebbs, then surges in!”
I had merely given Troy a slight push from behind so he could step on the accelerator.
No one knew whether his destination would be a wedding hall, the other side of a road's guardrail, or the Bogus gang's hideout, though.
[What kind of bastard says something like that……. ]
After a string of incredulous mutterings, he said,
[…So.]
Along with the sound of him swallowing hard,
[What did my senior say after hearing that insane story?]
“I haven't heard yet. I only told her.”
[You goddamn─.]
A second explosion of rage erupted.
[You should've at least waited for her answer!!]
I pulled the terminal slightly away from my ear at his resounding voice.
It didn't seem like the right time to say that he was hurting my ears.
Before long, a small sigh came through.
[Whew…. Fine. It's my fault for asking you even though I knew you were a strange bastard….]
After a brief silence,
Troy quietly began to speak.
[And I didn't ask you because I had those kinds of personal feelings for my senior. I asked because I genuinely respect her professionally. Don't misunderstand me.]
“Hmm….”
Thinking back to our conversation when we first met and his attitude afterward, that didn't seem to be the case….
[…Are you even listening to me?]
“Very carefully.”
[What the hell, why does a bastard who listened so carefully─.]
Only after bickering back and forth a few more times were we finally able to return to the main subject.
[…A family?]
“Yeah.”
[This bastard's asking me to find someone from a megacorp, then a gang, and now some family? Has the definition of a grocery store I know changed lately? What the hell have you been doing all this time?]
I also agreed with Troy.
“I know, right? It's not like I opened a fixer agency…. Why does so much work keep pouring in?”
I lightly ignored the fact that I had caused quite a few of the incidents myself.
[I've heard rumors about the Crossfell family's delinquent a few times, too. How outrageous must his behavior be for there to be fewer people who don't know he's from the family than people who do?]
“I didn't know.”
[You just lack common sense, you moron.]
“……”
He really knew how to leave a person speechless.
Still, this kind of light bickering gave me a sense of comfort deep down.
It felt like lying on the bed in my studio apartment and chatting peacefully in a group chat with my friends.
Of course, since I was on the grocery store roof, all that came out was a steady stream of white breath.
But what had he done to earn the nickname ‘delinquent’?
Was someone going to be possessed by him or something?
[Anyway, that delinquent ran away from home and came all the way down to the city's outskirts….]
Unlike Troy, who always quickly told me whatever I wanted like Doraemon's all-purpose gadget, a deep, thoughtful hum came through.
(For reference, Christine is Doraemon.)
[…Hmm.]
He seemed to have a lot on his mind.
“What, is it going to be difficult?”
[Of course it is.]
Troy answered in a low voice.
[I'm completely shackled to the city government. Ugh, those doglike bastards….]
“Are you allowed to curse them like that?”
[I'd rather they fire me, too. Then I could really run away. Anyway.]
From beyond the terminal came a sound like fingers typing on a keyboard.
[The city government and the families have quite a few agreements between them, all made by mutual consent. Unless I receive a separate assignment, if I poke around on my own, I could really get screwed.]
“Aha.”
[…I figured you wouldn't know. You common-sense-deficient bastard.]
Somehow, Troy's voice sounded even more caustic.
Looks like it would be difficult to get my friend's help.
But the conversation didn't end there.
[…Wait a second. Why isn't the personal information locked?]
A questioning voice followed.
I asked Troy,
“Locked?”
[Yeah. Normally, the personal information of someone from a family like this should be completely censored at the family's request. I haven't even gone down to the deeper layers to look for information yet, but….]
An unexpected situation put a strange excitement into Troy's voice.
It seemed to have sparked an interest he hadn't had before.
[Okay, hold on. Something is definitely strange here. I'll just check what's going on and contact you right away. Wait for me.]
“Oh, thank you─.”
The terminal cut out while I was answering.
He must have been in quite a hurry.
I guess he's the type who loses sight of everything around him once he focuses on work.
I slipped the terminal into my pocket and stared blankly at the grocery store's surroundings, which had gradually grown dark.
Streetlights flickering intermittently.
A grayish-white snowfield marked by people's footprints.
A quiet street without a single vehicle.
And Mikhail lying in an alley in the distance.
‘…What's that guy's deal? Why does he sleep there every day instead of staying at the shelter?’
When I subtly waved a hand, Mikhail quietly nodded.
Anyway.
I organized my complicated thoughts as I looked at the scene.
A family's delinquent young master….
What could that mean?
“Hmm.”
With so few clues, all sorts of possibilities came to mind.
It would have been easier if I had heard a notification like, ‘Quest received! Go over there and rescue the runaway young master!’
A sigh escaped in the shape of white breath.
‘That's right. When has this world ever been kind to me?’
Well, Troy said he would look into it.
I could simply wait calmly for him to contact me.
I slowly descended the grocery store's metal stairs.
* * *
The very next day.
Troy contacted me almost immediately.
His voice came through as soon as I picked up the terminal.
[Hey, I found him.]
“…??”
[The Aiden Crossfell you mentioned. No, now he's just plain Aiden.]
What kind of strange thing was he talking about now?
Even though I didn't answer, Troy continued speaking without stopping.
He looked a little out of it, so apparently he hadn't slept at all from yesterday until now.
[That bastard…. It looks like the family has completely cast him out. Is running away from home and being expelled really any different? Anyway, there's no way his delinquent nature suddenly changed. Apparently he couldn't give up his personality and is running a gang in District 44 now….]
A small scoff followed.
[Delinquent, delinquent…. I'd heard the rumors, but I had no idea it was this bad. Does that mean the Crossfell family was just that good at manipulating information? Anyway, I'll send you his location in a message, so be careful if you're going to go get him. I'm busy, so I'm off to sleep─no, to work. Take care.]
“No, if you're going to explain, at least explain properly…… Ah, damn it.”
He hung up again.
Rivera, who had been happily munching on a hot dog beside me, spoke up.
“Is something wrong…?”
“Hmm, no. Just a little errand.”
Because of the serious difference in our heights, I had to look quite far down to see Rivera sitting there.
When I lowered my head, I noticed mustard sauce smeared around her mouth.
I pulled out a tissue and gently wiped the mustard from Rivera's mouth.
Damn, that habit of taking care of my little sister again.
“…Hehe.”
Still, fortunately, she didn't seem to dislike it.
Nova, who had been silently watching the two of us, suddenly stood up.
Then she rummaged through the grocery store's inventory boxes before sitting back down with a futuristic food product labeled ‘Neo Life Gel’ in her hand.
A food product known for its seventy-two random flavors.
‘…??’
I no longer thought much of it even when I saw an android eating food,
but I wondered why she had suddenly taken that out after not eating it until now.
A little while later.
A drop of gel that naturally trickled from below her mouth fell not onto the floor, but onto her chest.
Since gravity always points downward, it wasn't a strange result at all.
The timing was simply a little too contrived.
Rivera's eyes, hidden behind shaggy hair, widened. She soon looked down at herself without a word, then clenched her teeth.
In this awkward situation, which had suddenly taken on the air of a suspense drama, I might have received some help if Michael or the cat, who had something resembling an ordinary person's sensibilities, had been there.
Unfortunately, Michael was working like an ant at the shelter again today,
and although the cat had definitely been fine until yesterday, a crack had suddenly appeared in its full-face helmet when morning came, so I had sent it to Walter.
Hmm.
“……”
“……”
I felt like I would get indigestion if I ate anything more here.
“I, I'm going to get some fresh air.”
In the end, I chose a strategic retreat.
Fortunately, their gazes were focused on each other, so neither of them followed me as usual.
Then I quietly checked the address on my terminal.
‘…District 44.’
I wondered if it was in a state similar to District 49.
Other than Districts 49 and 50, I had heard that inspections were quite thorough when moving between districts.
I didn't know for sure, though.
I might as well contact Eleanor Crossfell.
The call connected with a quiet ringtone.
[…I'm listening. Who is this?]
“Ah, it's me. Your real little brother…, no, the person who showed you that surprise show.”
Enough with the jokes.
“Anyway, I'm contacting you because I think I've found your biological younger brother's location.”
[…What? Where is he?]
“As far as I know, in District 44….”
[District 44? Got it. Wait there. Twenty minutes─no, just ten.]
“Huh?”
Damn it, she hung up again.
The call ended before I had even finished speaking.
That made three times now.
Did the people living in this insane city not know the concept of telephone etiquette at all?
What exactly was I supposed to wait for….
So I stood in front of the grocery store, being buffeted by fine-dust-laden wind, for about ten minutes.
Vrrrr.
A strange presence came from the sky.
When I looked up, I saw an aircraft with an impressive, luxurious body.
Written on the outside of that aircraft was,
‘…TAXI.’
That was what it said.
A taxi.
More precisely, a taxi that flew through the sky.
When the door of the luxurious air taxi opened upward, a mechanical voice came from inside.
[Thank you for using Vector Mobility. Swift, precise, and safe. We will provide you with the finest service from your point of departure to your destination.]
What kind of call taxi flew through the sky?
But weren't taxis normally unable to come to District 49?
Eleanor Crossfell suddenly poked her head out through the open door.
“Get in for now. We can talk on the way.”
I let out a light whistle.
Anyway.
This was the second aircraft I had ever ridden.